Tripoley
Overview
Tripoley is played both with cards and a board. It is essentially three card games rolled into one, Hearts, Michigan Rummy, and Poker. The game is fast-paced, fun and easy to learn. A little element of luck is needed to win the game. The tripoley board is labelled into sections, each containing chips. Players play the game to win those chips and the player with the most chips wins.
Tripoley is a product of Cadaco Toys of Chicago, Illinois. Original and modern game boards exist in many formats, from playing mats to plastic molded boards to pdf files. Cadaco has been marketing Tripoley since they secured the rights in the late 1930's from Stanley Hopkins. The same as play Tripoley, other Rummy games Finally, the players return their Poker cards to their remaining cards and the dealer lays their lowest card on the table. Each player is then required to do the same, but their card must be in the same suit.
Objective
Win the most chips by playing the game.
Tripoley Game Rules
Tripoley rules are very simple and follow the rules of each of the 3 games that make it up. The Hearts round follows Hearts rules, the Poker round follows poker rules, and the Michigan Rummy round also follows Michigan Rummy rules.
Number of Players Needed
To play a game of tripoley, between 2 to 9 players are needed. It is best to play with 4 to 7 players
Equipment
A standard card deck of 52 cards. Jokers are not needed
Chips for betting
A stakes board. You can buy one or create one yourself using paper or a chalkboard. The stakes board is divided into sections labelled: Ace of Hearts, Jack of Hearts, Ten of Hearts, King of Hearts, King-Queen of Hearts, Kitty, and Pot.
Setting Up
To begin the game, each player places one chip on each of the labelled sections of the stakes board. Each player places a total of 9 chip each as there are 9 sections on the board. The dealer then shuffles the card deck and deals one card at a time to each player in a clockwise direction. The dealer also deals an “Extra Hand” (as if there is one more player). The “Extra Hand” is placed face-down on the table and must not be viewed by the players including the dealer. After all the cards have been dealt, some players will have an extra card.
The dealer can choose to swap their “Hand” for the “Extra Hand” if they are not satisfied with the cards they got. However, the dealer is not allowed to view the “Extra Hand” before making the swap. If the dealer chooses to make the swap, the dealer’s original “Hand” is placed face-down on the table and becomes the “Extra Hand”. Once this swap is done, it cannot be revered.
The dealer can choose to offer the extra hand to the other players, triggering a bidding war. The victorious player will hand the bid amount in chips to the dealer and then swap their “Hand” with the “Extra Hand”. If the dealer declares an auction for the “Extra Hand” and no one bids, the dealer is still allowed to make the swap themselves if they choose to.
Even after swapping their original “Hand” for the “Extra Hand”, the dealer can still auction this “Hand” which has now become the “Extra Hand” to other players.
How to Play Tripoley Game
The game is played in three parts of Hearts, Poker, and Michigan Rummy game. The opening round is the Hearts and is very easy to play. Each player checks their “Hand” for Hearts cards. If a player has any of the following cards in their “Hand”, that player takes chips from the corresponding section of the stakes board: Ace of Hearts, Jack of Hearts, King of Hearts, Queen of Hearts, and 10 of Hearts.
So a player with an Ace of Hearts card gets to pack all the chips in the Ace of Hearts section of the stakes board, likewise, a player with a King of Hearts card gets to pack all the cards from the King of Hearts section, and so on. If a player has both King and Queen of Hearts cards, they are allowed to take all the chips from the King of Hearts, the Queen of Hearts and the King-Queen of Hearts sections.
Also, if a player has the 8, 9 and 10 cards of the Heart suit, they are allowed to take all the chips from the 8-9-10 section. If these cards are owned by more than 1 player, the chips in the 8-9-10 section are shared between the players proportionally. For example, if a player has the 8 of Hearts card, another player has the 9 of Hearts card, and another player the 10 of Hearts card, the chips will be shared equally between all three players.
Once the Hearts round is concluded, the game moves to the poker round. Each player selects five cards from their “Hand” to form a poker hand. Each player keeps the rest of their cards aside momentarily. After which the dealer then calls for bets. Before the betting proper starts, players must decide the bet limit and no player must make a bet exceeding this limit (the total number of chips bet by any player must not exceed the agreed limit). Players then place their bets in the Pot section and the player with the best poker hand wins all the chips in the Pot section.
The concluding round is the Michigan Rummy. Players add the rest of their cards to their poker hand for the Michigan Rummy round. The dealer starts by playing the lowest card in their hand. The next player has to play a higher card belonging to the same suit as the card the dealer dropped. The pattern continues until the highest card from that suit is played.
Whoever played the last card for the suit gets to start play again with the lowest card in their hand. The process is repeated until one player discards all their cards. This payer is rewarded with all the chips in the “Kitty” section and also receives a chip from every player for each card in their hand.
Winning the Game
Usually, the game goes on until one player has won all the other players’ chips but it is possible to end the game at any point. The player who has the most chips at the end of the game is declared winner. If there are chips left on the board at the end of the game, a single hand of poker is played to determine who gets those chips.
The Basics of Tripoley
-Number of players: 2-9 players, ideally 4-7
-Cards: A standard deck of 52 cards. Ace high
Tripoley Game For Sale
Additional Requirements
-Chips for betting
-Stakes Board: a chalkboard or labeled piece of paper for writing down the stakes. There are special stakes boards available to buy for Tripoley, but it is also easy to create one. Separate the stakes board into sections labeled: Ace of Hearts, King of Hearts, Queen of Hearts, Jack of Hearts, Ten of Hearts, King-Queen of Hearts, 8-9-10, Kitty, and Pot.
Object of the Game
The object of the Tripoley game is to make high-scoring card combinations by discarding and picking up new cards and making bids during the play. The first player to discard all his cards wins all the chips in the kitty.
How to Play Tripoley
Each player begins the game by positioning nine chips on each of the labeled segments on the stakes board. Then the dealer deals out the deck, one card at a time, to each player, in a clockwise direction. The dealer also deals out a spare hand (as if there’s an invisible player), which does not belong to any player.
By the end of the deal, certain players will have one more card than other players. After viewing his hand, the dealer can choose to exchange his hand for the spare hand but is not permitted to look at the spare hand before determining to make the swap. When the exchange is made, the dealer’s hand is positioned face down and the dealer’s old hand becomes the spare hand. The two hands cannot be combined.
If the dealer wants, he can offer the UNSEEN spare hand for sale to the highest bidder. The bidding is made in chips and the buyer of the hand must give the amount bid (in chips) to the dealer. The victor of the bid takes the spare hand and places his old hand face down in the center. If the dealer proposes the spare up to the auction block and no one bids, he can still elect to swap his hand for the spare hand.
Not only does the dealer have the privilege to swap his hand for the unseen hand, but even once he’s made the exchange, he can offer his old hand on the auction block. Though, when he makes the swap for the unseen hand, he has to keep that hand; he cannot swap it back for his old hand.
If a player has any of the following cards in his hand, he takes the chips from that corresponding spot on the stakes board: Ace of Hearts, King of Hearts, Queen of Hearts, Jack of Hearts, 10 of Hearts.
If a player has both the King and Queen of Hearts, he can take the chips from the King and Queen spaces as well as from the King-Queen space.
A player can remove chips from the 8-9-10 space if he has the 8,9, and 10 cards in one suit. The suit does not have to be Hearts. If more than one player has an 8,9, and 10 in one suit, those players have to share the chips that are in the 8-9-10 space. But, the chips must be distributed equally, so if there are two players who can take chips from that space and there are nine chips in the space, they each take four and leave the extra chip for the next winner of that sequence. It is not uncommon to have leftover chips on the stakes board.
The Play Begins with a Round of Poker.
Each player selects five cards from their hand that they think will be appropriate for a poker hand. The rest of the cards can be momentarily put aside. It is important to note that a player doesn’t have to play his finest poker hand because he may have cards he wants to retain for later in the game.
A player positions his poker bets in the space marked “pots” on the stakes board and the play commences to the left of the dealer. This player places a bet, or checks (passes or bets nothing). If this first player checks, then the next player can bet or check, and this persists in a clockwise direction. When all the players have checked, all the hands must be exposed and the player with the best hand (highest hand) wins the pot.
Players should decide at the start of the game how high everyone will permit the betting to go. If the limit is 20, then no one may make an initial bet of more than 20. This means that they also may not raise the bet by more than 20 chips in order to match the previous bet or raise.
The betting lasts until all the players (except one) fold. The player who doesn’t fold wins the chips in the pot. No cards need to be exposed. The player who wins the pot could actually have a worse hand than the other players, but if he is the only one who doesn’t fold, then he takes all the chips in the pot. In other words, in this case, it doesn’t matter who has the best hand.
The betting can also continue until all the players who do not fold have equal stakes. So, after a bet or raise, and all other players either fold or call, a showdown occurs between the remaining players. Everyone reveals his hand, and the player with the best hand wins the pot. This means that the players who folded, even if they actually had a better hand, are out of luck. They cannot win the pot and they lose all the chips they contributed to the pot.
The players who folded do not have to reveal their hands. There’s no point; they lost the round. If two players have an equal hand as revealed during the showdown, they must split the chips in the pot equally (even split—so if there are 21 chips in the pot, the two winning players get 10 each and the one remaining chip is left there for future rounds.)
Tripoley Game Target
If a player cannot lead after placing an Ace, or stop card (more on this later), because his cards are of the same suit previously played, then he will have to pass his turn to the player on the left. If that player can’t play either, then he passes to the player on his left. If no one can play, then each player must place chips into the kitty. The chips placed into the kitty, in this situation, should be equal to the number of cards left in hand. These chips will stay there until someone wins. It is not unusual to have chips left over on the stakes board by the end of the game—usually in the King-Queen and 8-9-10 spaces. Most people prefer, rather than to divide up the chips among the players, to play an extra round of Poker for the chips. Just move the chips over to the pot and play for what’s left. But don’t add any more chips to the board.
Tripoley Board
Once the Poker hand is over and the winnings are collected, the players put their Poker cards back into their original hand. The winner of the Poker pot begins the next round of the game, which is similar to the Michigan Rummy game. The Poker winner plays by putting down a card, faceup, in the center. (If there is a tie in the poker round, the player closest to the left of the dealer begins the next round.)
The card can be of any suit but should be the lowest card that he holds in that suit. The player with the next-highest card in that same suit places a card down next, and so on. This continues until the Ace of that suit is placed down or until a player reaches a “stop card.” Example of a stop card: if a 9 of Hearts is placed down and no one can place the 10 of Hearts because it is either in the spare hand or was previously played, then the 9 of Hearts is the stop card.
Tripoley Rules
Whoever places that final Ace or the stop card makes the next play. They can put down any suit except the one just played. Again, they can play the lowest card they have in that suit. The play continues just like it did in the previous round until one player has used up his cards. The player to play all his cards wins all the chips in the “kitty.” In addition to the kitty, the winner also collects chips from each player equal to the number of cards they have left in their hands.